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Radio Times Source: Mel Poluck Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has come a long way since it was first used for identifying friendly planes in World War Two. Today over two million London bus and tube travellers use it - whether they realise it or not - every time they swipe their Oyster transport smartcards ( http://www.oystercard.com ) and increasingly, library users are self-issuing their books using the technology. And its public service applications are growing steadily. RFID is a means of identifying individuals or objects using a tiny chip embedded in a card, wristband or other object. An RFID reader sends out a radio signal which is reflected by the chip, which sends back its unique ID number. The number is then matched by the reader system to information in a database, letting it know for example how much an Oyster card user has paid or whether a library book is overdue. RFID has some distinct advantages over other forms of identification, delegates heard at last month's E-Government Bulletin seminar 'RFID in the Public Sector' ( http://www.headstar-events.com/rfid ). "The beauty of RFID is it allows a two-way flow of information," said Matthew Wade of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). And affordability is also making the technology ever more attractive. "As the price continues to drop we'll see more applications the public sector," Wade predicted. In addition, unlike with barcode scanning systems, RFID readers require no direct line-of-sight and can be read "dozens at a time" said Roger Lamb, director of the RFID centre in Bracknell, Berkshire. The centre is the first permanent showcase of RFID equipment and provides an advisory service for public and private organisations setting up an RFID project. The fact that the centre's web site receives some 10, 000 unique visitors per month, said Lamb, supports the view interest and investment in RFID is growing. Examples from abroad show the widening scope for applying RFID- based technologies to public sector services. In Lelystad prison, in the Netherlands, a trial is currently taking place in which inmates wear RFID-tagged wristbands so guards know an individual's location and who they are with at any given time. The wristbands also support a points system to reward good behaviour. But in case anyone thought RFID was infallible, there are some major concerns over privacy to overcome before the technology can be fully accepted by its users. Dr Kirstie Ball of the Open University Business School showed delegates a cartoon depicting a scenario set in a future equipped with ubiquitous RFID-tagging. The scene shows a man walking into a chemist only to be greeted by the pharmacist shouting past customers: "Good afternoon Mr Henfennel - haemorrhoid cream aisle six!" While this was clearly an exaggerated version of the effects of RFID, events, Ball underlines that RFID differs from other forms of identification, when used to track the movements of people not products, in that devices cannot be turned off and users have little knowledge of who eventually has access to the data they create. On the other hand, there are potentially life-saving applications for RFID stemming from its ability to create a reliable audit trail free of human error. In the fight against inaccurate health records - for which some people pay with their lives - surgeon Doctor David Morgan in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital has pioneered the use of RFID- enabled devices to track patients undergoing surgery. The 'Safe surgical system' removes the chance of attributing the wrong patient to the wrong treatment. A handheld RFID-enabled device calls up a photo of the patient on-screen alongside their healthcare records and details of surgery. But fears that RFID could cause redundancies were allayed by David Bundy, quality services manager of library services at the London Borough of Sutton Council. "We didn't make any redundancies. It was essential staff supported what we did." In his efforts to revive library services, the library introduced RFID by inserting tags in the back of books and placing RFID readers around the library for users issue and return books themselves, speeding up the process and preventing queues forming. "Staff have more time to spend with customers," Bundy said. "We kept staff on board by involving them. People felt they had a part in it." According to Bundy, the library is now close to its target of 100 per cent self service. Next year, the uses of the Oyster travelcard are set to expand to an e- purse and library card and tests are underway by the Department of Transport for the use of RFID-tagging of car registration plates to combat theft. The applications for RFID are growing. "RFID is coming to a passport near you soon," said the DTI's Matthew Wade. The future may belong to radio technology.